Saturday, February 20, 2016

Quick notes: RISC-V, Shaan Patel...

Shaan Patel: This perfect SAT scorer got rejected by the Ivy Leagues, but got on 'Shark Tank' and is now backed by Mark Cuban.... someone commented: "Ivy League schools are hotbeds of anti-Asian racism"

Drug Cartels: In much of Europe, insulin costs about a sixth of what it does in the United States. That’s because the governments negotiate with the manufacturer to drive down prices unlike America's free market for drug pricing.

Street Smarts for Smart cities: India faces real challenges in reducing traffic, pollution and congestion and Samuel Schwartz definitely has some ideas that might be useful. In "Street Smart", Schwartz describes his vision for "walkable" cities built around an array of low-tech traffic calming systems and technologies - from narrower streets to pedestrian plazas.

The most important learning from Schwartz's "Street Smart" is the acceptance that cities do have limitations. No matter how small or smart vehicles become, there is only so much room on highways and city streets for vehicles.

It is time for everyone, not just disaffected millennials, to contemplate "vehicleless" living (as advertised in Pune) and to consider the implications of the choices we make - particularly the choice of where we live. Schwartz notes that walkability broadly improves with greater concentration of populations in urban areas and with improved walkability comes improved mental and physical health. He adds that greater population concentration and reduced transportation stress contributes measurably to GDP growth.

Maybe the Ace Augusta apartment developers in Pune are onto something - offering an experience capable of transcending transportation troubles and growing the economy while de-stressing its residents. That will look and sound like nirvana to a lot of people and not just people living in India.
Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars

Cancelling Communities' Land Rights: Land rights of people in Chhattisgarh were written off after land was allocated to the Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RVUNL) and Adani Minerals Private Limited.